I'm in a real religion, why are all the people who confess to me girls?

The random assignments in the second year are also quite fatal. Those who are left until the end without finding a partner are mostly academically challenged. Putting two equally challenged people together will not have a positive effect; the result will only be two failing idiots.

After explaining and confirming that there were no omissions, Ms. Chaba left the classroom, leaving the remaining time for the students to discuss countermeasures.

Before Tianyin could even speak, she was surrounded by a group of people.

"Tianyin's special exam this time might be a bit difficult for us."

Hirata seemed a little anxious, but given his academic ability, he didn't need to worry about not finding a partner. His expression clearly indicated that he thought there were still far too many people in the class who might be expelled.

"I've done the count. There are thirteen students in the class with an academic level of B or above, twenty with a level of C, and five with a level of D."

Overall, the situation is quite serious. Not only do people with C-level academic ability make up the majority, but people with D-level academic ability are almost on the verge of failing.

Tianyin also glanced at it and found that one of the D-level students was D+ and the rest were all D-. This meant that at least five B-level students would need to team up with them to prevent them from being expelled.

Tenon glanced at the estimated data left by Teacher Chashu on the blackboard.

The maximum score is calculated out of 500 points.

An academic ability score of E is approximately 150-200.

A score of approximately 200-250 is required for the Academic Ability D grade.

A score of C in academic ability is approximately 250-300.

A score of around 350 is considered equivalent to a B grade in academic ability.

An A score of around 400 is considered good.

In other words, students with academic abilities of A and B can generally pass as long as their partner student has an academic ability of around D. Therefore, there is no need to worry too much about the partner issue.

As for those at the C level, it depends on luck. Theoretically, there's a high probability that a student at the C level will fail, but there are also some borderline students at the C- level who are more dependent on their performance.

When you're in good form, you'll likely score over 250 points; when you're not, it's no different from being at level D.

However, C-level is generally considered to be at the level of an average person, so forming a team is not too difficult.

D is just an average person with poor academic performance, so it would be safer to find someone with an academic level of B or even higher.

Horikita handed his notebook to Amane, which contained information on all students in the grade who were at level B or above: 13 in Class A, 17 in Class B, 13 in Class C, and 12 in Class D.

That means there are 55 students in the second year who don't need to compete for partners.

This proportion is quite high. Keep in mind that there are only 148 students in the second grade. A B grade is considered an excellent student. The fact that more than a third of the second graders are considered excellent students is truly remarkable.

However, this also means that the remaining two-thirds will require the help of the first-year students.

"I took a look, and the overall academic level of Class A in the first year this year is pretty good... Hey? There's even a student with the surname Miyako... Well, should we try to get in touch with him?"

Horikita offered his suggestion: although the academic performance of Class 2A was somewhat questionable, Class 1A was a truly high-achieving class, and getting support from them would not be difficult to overcome this challenge.

"I think this plan is feasible, but... they're from Class A, Horikita-kun, what method will you use to win them over?"

Ichinose raised a crucial question.

The other party is Class A, whose overall academic level is much higher than that of Class A in the second year. In other words, Class A in the second year cannot provide much help to Class A in the first year. Therefore, the other party has no reason to help the second year for free.

"That's a problem too. Even if a first-year student fails a test, they get newbie protection; it's just a three-month deduction of personal points. This punishment is simply..."

Horikita sighed. The current situation was terrible. The first-year students who were to be paired with each other were like having a get-out-of-jail-free card. No matter how many times they failed, they would not be expelled. But the second-year students would be expelled if they failed. This rule put the second-year students at a disadvantage in negotiations from the very beginning.

"Should we contact the lower-ranked classes? For example, we should be able to find some good students in Class B or C of the first year, or even Class D?"

Hirata's approach avoided negotiating with Class A of the first year. It can be said that Hirata's proposal is the most likely to be realized at present. You know, even a defective class like Amane's, which became a zero-point class in the second month, can find more than a dozen people with B academic level. So Class D of the first year should be about the same.

"Tianyin, why do you seem... not to care? Do you really need to make this decision? If you don't get 500 points, the students with low academic ability in the class will really be expelled."

Seeing that Amane looked completely nonchalant, Matsushita couldn't help but remind her. She was worried that Amane, with her high academic ability, wouldn't have any concept of the consequences of ordinary students having low academic ability, so she wanted Amane to realize the importance of the problem as soon as possible.

"Hey~ hey~ I'm telling you, aren't you all overcomplicating things again? Wouldn't it be solved if you just sold me off? Why are you all looking so gloomy? Come on, give me a smile~"

Chapter 5: Give Me a Smile

"Smile?! What time is it now? Amane still has the mood to act silly. What if Sakayanagi and the others beat those high-achieving first-year students to a duel..."

Matsushita's voice grew increasingly urgent. Before becoming a member of Class A, Matsushita's desire to compete for Class A wasn't actually that strong. On one hand, Matsushita knew that he was a very outstanding student compared to ordinary students.

However, they would be completely helpless against monsters like Sakayanagi and Amane. Not to mention these popular figures in the school, even Matsushita, one of the top students in Class A, was not confident that he could defeat them.

She's not good at sports, and while she excels academically, she lacks boundless creativity. She truly embodies the image of an outstanding high school girl.

The reason for cooperating with Tianyin was not because Tianyin promised to help her graduate as an A-class student.

Rather... Tianyin was the first person in this school to give her a birthday present. If we were to rate the classmates around her who could be considered 'friends'...

Without a doubt, Tianyin is the highest scorer and the most outstanding person in her heart. Wouldn't it be a perfect match for her, an excellent student, to be her friend?

So Matsushita stood by Amane's side on the condition that he become a student in Class A.

But when Matsushita actually became a student in Class A, she realized how terrifying this position was. As long as you sit in the Class A classroom, everyone outside the classroom is your enemy.

No, even in the classroom, there might still be enemies.

But overall, classmates are more trustworthy than other students.

This made Matsushita somewhat frightened.

No, being afraid of the enemy is just a pointless excuse.

What she feared was the sound of the heavens.

Tianyin has fulfilled her promise to her, and the bond between her and Tianyin has been severed by an invisible blade.

She no longer had any excuse to stand by Tianyin's side. Of course, it wasn't impossible for her to shamelessly stand by Tianyin's side as a friend...

However, Matsushita Chiaki is not the kind of girl like Karuizawa who would only shrink behind others. Even if she can't compare to those monsters, she will definitely not lose to the helpers of other class leaders.

Beneath her calm exterior lies confidence in her abilities. In the past, she concealed her strength simply because she felt that helping a foolish class leader would only cause her trouble and effort, and would not be worth the loss.

Now... she has to use all her strength to make Tianyin see her existence.

So, during this special exam, Matsushita was eager to demonstrate her abilities and take quick action. She kept saying that she was thinking about the students in the class who had poor academic performance, but in her heart, she kept thinking about the name that had turned her curiosity into longing.

Miyako Tenon.

"Smile!"

Despite being glared at angrily by Matsushita, Amane remained completely at ease.

That face, always adorned with a relaxed smile, is an expression so overpowering that it's impossible to get angry at it.

If anyone else had asked her to smile at this moment, Matsushita would have unhesitatingly called them an "idiot," but if Amane wanted to...

"I have absolutely no reason to laugh in this situation, especially with everyone watching me, how could I possibly laugh..."

Faced with Amane's 'excessive' request, neither Horikita nor Ichinose said anything, and even Hirata, who always cared about his classmate Katsuyu and himself, chose to remain silent.

The reason is simple: everyone believes that Tianyin would never speak carelessly. A true leader should never show any panic in front of others, no matter when or where, as this is a major taboo that can seriously undermine morale.

But Tianyin is different from those people. Some people maintain their composure by managing their facial expressions, while others are naturally indifferent to the life or death of others. Tianyin, however, is a completely different existence.

Because she... genuinely has a solution.

"But right now I just want to see you smile, Qianqiu! The atmosphere is so tense right now, if you smile more, it might make everyone feel more at ease!"

Tianyin provided Song with a perfect stepping stone.

'That's right, I smiled to put everyone at ease, not specifically for Tianyin to see...'

Matsushita took a deep breath to calm his anxious emotions and forced an awkward smile onto his face.

"Hahahaha, Qianqiu, what is that? Your laughter is terrifying, hahahaha."

Tianyin laughed loudly. As her laughter grew louder, her movements became more and more exaggerated. Finally, she simply clutched her stomach and rolled around on the table, as if she would laugh so hard that she would fall to the ground at any moment.

"What?! Tianyin, you've gone too far! Was my smile that scary?"

Matsushita glared angrily at Amane, who was still fooling around, and then quickly covered his burning cheeks with his hands.

'Do I look that bad when I smile?'

Matsushita began to fall into self-doubt.

Admittedly, Matsushita's appearance is different from Karuizawa's, which can instantly attract attention. Matsushita is the type who stands out with her temperament. Matsushita's temperament is more like that of a mature woman, but not too much. She is the kind of girl who gives people a feeling of an older sister. Coupled with her above-average face, she gives people a feeling of wanting to get close to her.

Both women have their own charm, but that doesn’t mean Matsushita isn’t a ‘beauty’. In fact, even Matsushita’s forced smile just now was quite pleasing to the eye from an outsider’s perspective.

However, right now, all Matsushita could see was Amane, who was still laughing heartily. Even if someone immediately complimented Matsushita on how beautiful her laughter was, she would probably think that everyone was just trying to comfort her.

Although Matsushita dislikes fighting, she is a strong-willed girl. Hearing Amane say that her laughter is terrifying severely damaged her confidence as a woman!

Therefore, I must make Tianyin admit that her smile is beautiful today, no matter what.

Matsushita began to try to recall everything that had happened before she came here: a comfortable life, a happy family, a gifted top student, and a girl named Matsushita Chiaki. Everything in her life up to this point had been so perfect.

Even with such wonderful memories, Matsushita Chiaki couldn't smile at all, because these beautiful things were just normal part of her life, and didn't give her any sense of surprise or delight.

Even recalling these things naturally couldn't make her laugh normally.

If the memories from before don't work, then... what about the memories from after I came to school?

'Well, looks like I'll be spending my first birthday at this school alone. Ahh... It feels strange to celebrate my birthday alone, but it also feels too lonely. Birthdays really should be more lively, right?'

Matsushita Chiaki, who had just finished cleaning her dorm room, sat on her bed, looking at the empty dining table except for herself, and then at the date on the calendar that she had specially marked as her 'birthday'.

'There's nothing I can do about it, right? My birthday is only a few days away from the start of school, and I don't even know everyone's names yet, so how could I possibly invite them to my birthday party...'

'Besides, proactively telling someone it's my birthday sounds like I'm deliberately asking for a present, and it's almost the end of the month, everyone's short on cash... Maybe I should just forget about it? Maybe next year someone will be there to celebrate my birthday with me? Yeah, good luck, Chiaki!! Huh? Someone's knocking? Who could be coming to see me at this hour? Could it be Sato and the others?'

'If they were friends, they might know it's my birthday today?! Yes, it could only be them; they must be trying to surprise me, right?!'

But when Matsushita excitedly opened the door, she was greeted by a somewhat unfamiliar face.

Happy birthday, Matsushita!

Matsushita Chiaki couldn't help but smile happily as she recalled the scene.

"I knew it! Chiaki can have a cute smile too, can't she?"

Tianyin noticed that the students who were secretly watching them from a distance all showed relaxed expressions when they saw Tianyin chatting and laughing with them.

If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up. If the tall ones aren't worried, then it's no use for those of us who don't do well to be anxious.

The tense atmosphere in the class disappeared quietly.

"Alright, stop joking around. I've given you a laugh, so now can you tell me your real plan? If you can't come up with a good one, I won't let you off the hook!"

She put her hands on her hips and pretended to be angry, but her smile was so bright that no one could tell she was angry at all.

"A solution? I already told you, just sell me."

"Huh?! What kind of method is this? Even if you sold yourself by weight, you wouldn't make much money! Get to the point!"

"Huh?! Why did you think of selling me by weight, Qianqiu? That's terrifying... I meant holding an auction. You know, my academic level is S, surely someone will be interested, right? One S in exchange for several B-level students isn't too expensive, and every class can afford it. Wouldn't that solve our problem? Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Tianyin felt a chill run down her spine under the intense gazes of the crowd and couldn't help but shrink back.

"So there's another way, but... Tianyin, haven't you overlooked something important? If you hold an auction, the other classes will inevitably try to disrupt it. Although they may not have students with S-level academic ability, they can certainly field quite a few with A+ or A-level academic ability..."

Horikita's concerns stemmed from interference from other classes.

Although Class A currently ranks first in class points across the entire grade, the gap between them and the second-ranked Class Sakayanagi is less than one hundred class points. What they hope for most is that someone in Class A will drop out now.

It's impossible for Tianyin to solve the most difficult problem in this special exam so easily.

"Why not just bring them into the auction as well?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? How could they possibly agree to such a request?"

Horikita gently tapped Amane on the head.

"Hmm, we should at least give it a try, right? If all the second-grade classes could team up, they could create a monopoly on the first-grade classes!"

Is it a monopoly?

Horikita thought for a moment. Although Amane's statement was somewhat wishful thinking, it was undeniable that if it were to actually come true, the second-year students would no longer have to worry about the first-year students having a life-saving charm and thus losing their fair negotiating position.

How can we gather people like Ryuen, Kanzaki, and Sakayanagi together and get them to trust each other and work together to complete this special exam?

Just as Horikita was still speculating about Amane's backup plan, Ichinose suddenly spoke up.

"I've heard that hitting someone on the head can make them stupid. If you're really angry, Horikita-kun, you can consider using other punishment methods."

Ichinose gently rubbed Amane's head.

Upon seeing this, Matsushita and the others consciously took a few steps back to avoid being caught in the crossfire of this inexplicable battle.

"hey-hey……"